Scientific Name: Calliandra eriophylla
Common Name: Fairy Duster
Also Called: False Mesquite, Stickpea, Hairy-Leaved Calliandra, Pink Mimosa, Pink-flowered acacia, Mesquitilla, Plumita, Gavia, Huajillo, Tabardillo, Cabeza angel, Cabelleto de angel, Cabeze de angel, and Cosahui
Size: Low densely branched shrub 8 inches to 4 feet high.
Flower Color:cream to light pink to orange puffs containing many flowers up to 2" in diameter. Flowers are darker toward the center from which the long stamens radiate out.
Flowering Season: Can bloom year round but usually bloom February through May.
Elevation: below 5,000 feet.
Notes: Likes open hillsides and sandy desert washes. Can survive, once established, with little water. Likes dry soil containing gravel and naturally alkaline. Often the only native winter-blooming shrub. The bees and other pollinators find it highly beneficial. Important nectar source reportedly having 2.17mg of sugar per flower. Honey from this plant is highly prized. Great for pollinator garden, can be found at local nurseries around Tucson.
Homestead Plant #Native02 (was not on the property originally) currently we only have one small plant put in the pollinator garden in 2020 (purchased from Desert Survivor Nursery). I plan on trying to propagate more from seeds. The photos are from plants in the desert.
Common Name: Fairy Duster
Also Called: False Mesquite, Stickpea, Hairy-Leaved Calliandra, Pink Mimosa, Pink-flowered acacia, Mesquitilla, Plumita, Gavia, Huajillo, Tabardillo, Cabeza angel, Cabelleto de angel, Cabeze de angel, and Cosahui
Size: Low densely branched shrub 8 inches to 4 feet high.
Flower Color:cream to light pink to orange puffs containing many flowers up to 2" in diameter. Flowers are darker toward the center from which the long stamens radiate out.
Flowering Season: Can bloom year round but usually bloom February through May.
Elevation: below 5,000 feet.
Notes: Likes open hillsides and sandy desert washes. Can survive, once established, with little water. Likes dry soil containing gravel and naturally alkaline. Often the only native winter-blooming shrub. The bees and other pollinators find it highly beneficial. Important nectar source reportedly having 2.17mg of sugar per flower. Honey from this plant is highly prized. Great for pollinator garden, can be found at local nurseries around Tucson.
Homestead Plant #Native02 (was not on the property originally) currently we only have one small plant put in the pollinator garden in 2020 (purchased from Desert Survivor Nursery). I plan on trying to propagate more from seeds. The photos are from plants in the desert.
Photos copyright Monica M King, no use without written permission.